Mysterious bombardment of a house in Liverpool.
During the past day or two (says the Liverpool Mercury) no little commotion has been produced in Hutchinson-street, out of Baker-street, West Derby-road, and its immediate neighbourhood, by an occurrence which, trivial enough in itselt, is surrounded with a perplexing degree of mystery.
About two o’clock on Tuesday afternoon the inmates of one of the houses near the junction of Hutchinson-street with Baker street were startled by a stone crashing through a pane of glass in the kitchen window, which looks out into the backyard. at first it was thought the stone must have been thrown by some child, and no particular notice was taken of the matter; but presently another missile struck the window and broke another pane of glass.
At short intervals throughout the rest of the day, up till nearly eleven o’clock at night, stones, pieces of coal, and other missiles were thrown at the window, until almost every pane of glass that it contained had been battered out. The occupiers of the house, unable themselves to discover the quarter from whence the stones, &c., came, communicated with the police, and several constables appeared upon the scene. They were equally unsuccessful in their endeavours to discover the author of the mischief.
Visits were paid to several of the neighbouring houses, but without in any way clearing up the mystery, and numerous stones were thrown while the officers were actually standing by the window at which the missiles were aimed, without being able to tell from which direction they came.
On Wednesday, the bombardment of the window – or rather, of the shutter, which had to be closed – was resumed, though not so continuously as on the previous day. Half a dozen detectives were sent up from the police-office in the course of the morning, in the hope that they would pounce upon the offender, but they were obliged to depart baffled in the object of their visit, and the mystery which surrounds the affair is not yet cleared up.
As might be expected, all manner of conjectures have been hazarded, but it is generally believed that some foolish individual, armed with a catapult, or other propulsive weapon, is gratifying his propensity for mischief in this peculiar fashion. One singular feature about the affair is, that although there are numerous other windows equally within range, only this particular one appears to have been selected as a mark.
Newbury Weekly News and General Advertiser, 27th August 1868.